1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to litter for use by domestic animals. For example, such litter is typically employed by pet owners to absorb urine and collect feces.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Many people enjoy the company of one or more domestic pets. Litter boxes are typically provided for the use of such animals in the collection of urine and feces. Such a litter box is typically filled with an absorbent granular material (e.g., sand and/or clay), which aids in collecting the bodily wastes produced by pets. Such litter materials often include a fragrance component (e.g., a fragrance oil) to mask the odor associated with such waste. Such fragrance components are often applied encapsulated within a starch which provides improved stability to the fragrance as compared to the fragrance oil alone. One difficulty associated with such litters including an encapsulated fragrance is that such encapsulated fragrances are not very good at regulating release of the fragrance over time, particularly once the encapsulated fragrance is first wetted. As a result, fragrance is unavoidably lost after a relatively short time, particularly after initial wetting. The continuous relatively high rate of fragrance loss even during storage is problematic as such products may be stored for significant periods of time between manufacture and final use by the consumer. Furthermore, upon wetting (e.g., by urine and/or animal feces), the starch encapsulation of the fragrance oil or other component is broken, after which there is little or no ability to further control release of the fragrance component. The result is that the fragrance associated with the litter composition is quickly lost.